Energy Competition Task Force to launch wholesale market standardised flexibility products for voluntary trading

The Energy Competition Task Force has been developing standardised flexibility products as part of a package of measures to enable new generators and independent retailers to enter and better compete in the market.

Standardised flexibility products, being developed by the industry Standardised Flexibility Product Co-design Group (Co-design Group), will deliver forward price discovery for flexible supply and demand. Electricity participants use this information to make efficient business decisions, which will improve competition in the wholesale electricity market and reduce costs for consumers. A shortlist of products is currently being prepared by the Co-design Group for recommendation to the Authority’s Board.

The Co-design Group will host a seminar in mid-December to launch the products ahead of voluntary trading beginning in January 2025. Led by the Chair and members, the online seminar will provide product details and information to support voluntary trading. Dates will be communicated via our website and our Market Brief on 10 December.

Chair of the Co-design Group, Shaun Goldsbury, says: “We’ve been clear on what the objectives of the group are. We've realised that, to have a product that is ready to trade by January and be effective next winter, we are relying on existing supply and demand in the market.”

“We are not specifically trying to incentivise new technologies as part of this process, but we are hopeful the products will create the right price signal for the value of flexibility, including demand response. We need generally useful products that will have multiple buyers and sellers to create liquidity, which leads to price discovery.

“There are more specialised products that the group considers highly valuable for encouraging new renewables, thermal firming, batteries and demand response. Given our objectives and the constrained timeframe, these products will need to be worked on as part of a future process."

The Task Force is also investigating other initiatives that may provide targeted support for renewables development.

For those interested, we have published the Co-design Group’s meeting minutes.